Lost

My grandmother was sitting at the table with a book at her side and a pen dipped in ink next to her.

When she heard footsteps beside her, she didn't turn around, but just spoke slowly.

"You're here."

"..." Xiao Yingzhu lowered her eyes, standing at a distance from her grandmother, and said calmly, "Yes, I'm staying here for a while. I'm sorry to bother you."

“…”

Grandma didn't reply in time. She looked up at the fake sky outside the window.

There were no clouds or flying birds, and even the wind was extremely still and gentle, as if the wind speed had been adjusted by someone. One could only feel the gentle touch of the wind on one's skin, even if there was nothing else.

After so many years, the sect's rumors, like those spread by the outside world, have a certain degree of credibility.

The grandmother before him looked almost identical to the grandmother at the Duke's Mansion, as if she had never been baptized by time. The passing of time had only made her mood more calm, more difficult to fathom, and as for her face...

Time is forgiving.

Xiao Yingzhu stood there with her eyes downcast for a moment before she heard her grandmother speak again: "Are you still blaming me?"

“…”

Xiao Yingzhu lowered his eyes, and the soft, almost pale light caressed his face and gently touched his cheek, softening his beautiful, almost coquettish features and adding a bit of simplicity that was usually only shown when pretending.

“Never.”

"I won't question your choice."

He had always wanted to take the Duke's Mansion back from Emperor Changde. If he had been a deserter, a coward, and gone to the clan to seek protection from his grandmother, she would have arranged for him to live in one of their residences without a word, thus ensuring a worry-free life.

But everyone has their own aspirations.

My grandmother is tired of this complicated world and wants to find a peaceful place, which is naturally possible.

He wanted to inherit his father's legacy and continue the Duke's Mansion with the surname "Xiao". He had to make himself strong and prevent others from taking the title of Duke's Mansion from Emperor Changde.

“…”

Grandma covered the teacup in her hand, and the porcelain made a crisp sound. She placed the teacup back on the sunken wood table, looking away from the window and back at him.

"Do you have anything to ask me?"

What do you want to ask?

So many years have passed.

He came to visit the sect today just to let Jiang Nian find a place to have a good rest.

If it weren't for this reason, he could have used Tao Yu's name and his previous identity as "Tao Yu's friend" and used the sect as a transit point on his way back to Pingzhou directly.

They would not have gone to such great lengths to talk to their grandmother and ask her to give them a temporary place to stay.

“…”

Xiao Yingzhu still kept her eyes down, not wanting to react in any way.

He has always been good at hiding his feelings, and the same goes for his facial disguise. As long as he doesn't want others to see, no matter how hard others try to explore or understand what he is thinking, they will still not find a breakthrough.

Grandmother didn't hear Xiao Yingzhu's answer, nor did she ask any further questions. After a moment, she changed the subject.

"That girl...?"

Xiao Yingzhu's pupils moved slightly, and he raised his eyes calmly: "Well, the journey is long, and the sect is still some distance away from Pingzhou. I want to take her here to rest."

"I see. That's why you came here."

Grandmother turned around and looked at him for a moment, then raised her eyes and looked outside the screen: "...If that's the case, then you should go back and rest."

"Tomorrow, I will send you to where you are going."

Xiao Yingzhu didn't talk much, and Grandma had no intention of keeping him for long—she herself wasn't a talkative person, and they weren't very familiar with each other, so there wasn't much to talk about.

Soon, the slightly awkward topic came to an end. Xiao Yingzhu walked out from behind the screen again and followed the maid who had been waiting on the side to where Jiang Nian was.

—

Passing behind another screen, Xiao Yingzhu saw Jiang Nian sitting in the middle of the table from afar, surrounded by several maids. She was holding a teacup in her hand and had something to eat in front of her. She looked a little embarrassed. Xiao Yingzhu paused for a moment before continuing to move forward.

Seeing the figure coming from the other side of the screen, Jiang Nian turned around with difficulty from the group of maids, kept smiling with a slightly sour mouth, and thanked them softly, and gestured for them to look in the direction of Xiao Yingzhu.

It was obvious that Jiang Nian was a little overwhelmed by being surrounded by quiet maids.

The maids followed his gaze towards Xiao Yingzhu, and when they saw him, they scattered, performed all the formalities to him in unison, and quietly left the place.

Their figures quickly disappeared behind the screen, and the color of the figures gradually faded on the white screen. Jiang Nian suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

"When do we leave tomorrow?"

She was anxious to return to Pingzhou to see how the pharmacy was doing. Meng Jian's letter made her particularly worried. She was afraid that if she arrived too late, Meng Jian would have found the anthelmintic recipe in her pharmacy or in the warehouse.

"Ugly hour."

Jiang Nian nodded when he heard that.

"So, let's go to our accommodation here first?"

The place where my grandmother was was far away from the bottom. The tinkling sounds from below came up along the steep cliff and disappeared before the horizon.

Jiang Nian walked behind Xiao Yingzhu, looking back at the sky behind him.

The clouds and the moon were bright there, and the sun that I had seen in the sky when I arrived just now had disappeared into the endless and quiet darkness.

Turning around, he discovered that Xiao Yingzhu had already taken several steps forward. Jiang Nian slightly quickened his pace, and after he was shoulder to shoulder with him, he continued to ask, "Were all these people from the sect brought in by Shou Zan?"

“I didn’t pay attention to that.”

Xiao Yingzhu looked straight ahead at the road, occasionally the wind blew and lifted his hair.

"If you have any questions, you can ask Ah He."

Just now, Jiang Nian was a little curious about the relationship between Ah He and Xiao Yingzhu's grandmother, but now he was more curious about the "sun"-like thing in the sky, so he nodded when he heard it.

"Will I be able to see her again tonight?"

"Yes, she... should come and sort something out."

Xiao Yingzhu was not familiar with this place either, having only been here once. She had just declined the maid's suggestion and was now walking back in the previous direction, feeling a little hesitant.

Jiang Nian often saw Xiao Yingzhu walking fast and accurately, but now seeing him hesitating at a fork in the road, he suddenly felt a little bit of contrast and narrowed his eyes.

"Can't find the way?"

"......" Xiao Yingzhu glanced at her calmly, "No."

As soon as he said this, as if questioning his memory, he turned around and walked towards the left fork without hesitation.

Jiang Nian had enough of Xiao Yingzhu's seemingly calm appearance, but actually still reminiscing about the road ahead, so he smiled and changed the subject:

"Okay, I believe you."

"When you came here earlier, did you notice the sun in the sky?"

She glanced at the giant circle whose outline was only faintly visible in the sky.

"Um."

"Weren't you surprised when you first saw it?"

She comes from the modern era. In this era, she would be shocked and amazed to see giant lighting tools that are difficult to describe in words. What about people in this era?

These things are far beyond their understanding.

“…”

Xiao Yingzhu chose a path from the seemingly identical roads, bypassed the woods, and headed towards the building ahead:

"Because we knew from the beginning that Shouzan was not a man of this era, so no matter what he could come up with, we were mentally prepared."

"After all, it comes from the future, so it must have things that don't exist in our time."

Jiang Nian nodded thoughtfully. "Wouldn't you feel shocked or torn? For example, those mechanical birds that can fly in the sky, or those wooden carts on the ground that can transport wood along a designated route."

"These are all things from other eras. Is there a fear that these things might take over this era?"

Xiao Yingzhu lowered his eyes and looked at her for a moment before calmly answering, "These phenomena are beyond human control. If you worry about their long-term impact just because they appear by chance, you're truly worrying unnecessarily."

Thinking that Shou Zan had only released the medical-related items within the sect, and that there was no news about his current sect outside, Jiang Nian nodded in understanding.

"Yes, apart from Shouzan and I, no one else will come."

They passed through the woods and arrived at the spacious open space in front. Jiang Nian withdrew his gaze from the surrounding area and asked casually, "Where did Shou Zan originally intend to use these?"

Thinking back to some of the decorations in Zuihua Tower, could it be that those decorations were brought out from the sect?

It is not usually seen on other buildings.

Xiao Yingzhu said calmly, "The products manufactured here are not circulated in the market. Even if they are shipped out, they are provided free of charge to the distinguished guests of the sect. I haven't paid attention to these things yet."

There were very few distinguished guests for the sect, and even the royal family rarely entered. Jiang Nian didn't know much about the relationship between the sect and those distinguished guests, so he nodded and said, "So that's how it is. Have you encountered them being transported down the mountain before?"

"When I came here with Qin Lan, I happened to encounter someone transporting artifacts at the foot of the mountain. Afterwards, I learned a little bit through Tao Yu... and then sent someone to investigate."

Since it is a free gift, it should be considered as an item for personal use.

Jiang Nian stopped thinking about this and turned his attention to the building in front of him: "Are we staying here tonight?"

There was only one building, which was divided into upper and lower floors. Although nothing could be seen, Jiang Nian still hesitated for a moment.

Xiao Yingzhu followed her gaze, his eyes swept over the eaves and fell on another peak behind the mountain.

The place where I lived before seems a little different from here.

After a pause, seeing that Xiao Yingzhu did not answer, Jiang Nian realized that the scene in front of him might not be what Xiao Yingzhu imagined, so he laughed and said:

"You're not in the wrong place, are you?"